A few quotes about Musick:
"A complete mess of retro keyboards, distorted guitars, screeched vocals, groovy bass lines and all sorts of odd psychedelic noises. From Tampa, Fla., this is drugged-out metal that comes across like the Flaming Lips covering Blue Cheer. It's glorious."
-Punk Planet
"One suspects that A&R men greeted the New Year not only with spectacular hangovers but with a burning desire to locate the next Franz Ferdinand. They could do worse that direct their attentions so Tampa, FL where the tropical breezes and mixing-pot ambiguities of a maritime community have served up Dumbwaiters."
-The Wire
"Look carefully at that cover art, and what do you think of? Cold packaging. The black & white faux throwback printing. The bastard title Musick. Yet, this assessment of the album through the cover art doesn't come close to the small magic that goes on underneath: every note here is a tiny revolution, each chord a breath of clean air. The five-piece from Tampa play with absolute control and self-confidence as they modify their simple melodies into complex landscapes by adding complicated textures and pleasant flourishes to their songs."
-30music.com
"Musick is a dizzying collection of modern pop songs that curve and swerve all over the place. The band combines energetic rhythms with searing guitars, dreamy keyboards, and incredible vocals to create a thick wall of modern pop madness. This album is something of an assault on the senses. There's a lot going on at once here and yet--amazingly--the melodies and song structures manage to shine thoroughly clearly. Instead of following the path others have charted, these guys are doing things their own way. Incredible stuff played with furious intent."
-Babysue
"On Musick, Dumbwaiters hold to grinding guitars, tribal drums, and moody organ, concocting little rock grenades like "The Blow Up" and "Repeats/ Version" that leave remarkable debris."
-The Onion
"There's some craftsmanship on display with this album, folks. So it's a winner, or pretty damn close to one. Nothing's extraordinary, but the quality remains high from start to end. Musick also sounds contemporary while simultaneously being a nice throwback to a lot of the stuff that made college radio worth listening to 13 or so years ago. It's also probably the best thing out of the Tampa area since Fred McGriff, or maybe "Creature Feature", with Paul Bearer."
-Delusions of Adequacy
"The band's enthralling new full-length, Musick, is easily the most rocking and generally accessible of their albums. Steadfast elements of "the Dumbwaiters sound" - krautrock-inspired repetition, broken disco, dub flirtations, Zeppelin's oceanic throb - complement and contrast one another in new and conspicuously more focused ways."
-Weekly Planet
"This album is nuts. It's got variety -- from moody instrumentals to face-melting rockers. It's hard not to get caught up in it. I mean, we hear all kinds of shit about PROG coming back into indie rock, and frankly I'm just not buying it. But then I hear a band like Dumbwaiters and I can't help but hear grandiose organic 70s rock at its best. The thumping keys, the spiraling lines, the relentless snare hits. It's all there. You should all definitely listen to this, and mark your calendars for February when this drops."
-Music (for Robots)
"Dumbwaiters demand that you "Play This Loud!" -- as if we have a choice. The band's second album creates a lovely bit of noise that seems to explode out of the speakers at any volume. They don't seem to know exactly what they want to be -- a caustic noise-rock troupe or cock-rock revisionists -- but they definitely want your ears to bleed while they figure it out."
-Splendid
"Dumbwaiters play a dense style of jagged post-punk that owes a debt to the darker-edged new wave bands of the late 70's/early 80's. The guitars are batter thick and supplemented by keyboard and synth seasonings reminiscent of Pere Ubu, while the wobbly almost dub bass brings early PiL to mind. When you add the powerhouse drum sound, all of the parts are there for Dumbwaiters to impress."
-Pop Culture Press
A few remarks about Titles:
"If there weren't any vocals on their record, I might have guessed that the Dumbwaiters were from Dusseldorf instead of Tampa. The band combines hypnotic, repetitive Krautrock beats with noisy guitars, synthesizers, and the catchy pop sensibility of their former label-mates (and fellow Floridians) Home. They don't quite wear their influences on their sleeves, but you can still hear a bit of Neu!, Eno, and New Order on a lot of these songs. "Titles", their second and long overdue full-length, is now available from the Screw Music Forever record label after floating around on CD-R for nearly two years. Thank god the Dumbwaiters have finally gotten their act together and officially released this once hard-to-find indie rock classic. Highly recommended."
-othermusic.com
"Matching funky shuffle and analog squawk... with a peppy, all-together-now vocal entree, Titles is one of 2003's best unknown records."
-Austin Chronicle
"Full of loopy, repetitive grooves, Dumbwaiters' music never fails to grab. Dumbwaiters oscillate between crafty, smart Brian Eno-inspired pop with quirky lyrics and exercises in sheer drone. The band does both of these well, and that says something."
-St. Petersburg Times
"Although having a passing resemblance to Neu in their like-minded approach to melody and a fluid, yet pronouncedly rhythmic groove, and to some 80's pioneers such as Gary Numan & early New Order, whose sweeping synthesizers are also present in the mix, the Dumbwaiters are a band which proves once again that a record collection can be absorbed rather than emulated. That absorption leads to very interesting results where, in addition to the elements above, you can hear a bit of dub sneaking around the periphery, and guitars shifting from the noisy forefront to a usually more understated and textural role throughout. Keyboards sometimes replace the bass guitar entirely, and assorted electronix quietly percolate in the background, making the whole affair a strange brew indeed! Before you get the wrong idea and dream of a post-rock junkyard in the sky, let us assure you that the songs are unabashedly pop (in a Here Come the Warm Jets kinda way) - unlike those of the somewhat more dour Europeans mentioned above.
The fellas almost dare ya to sing along with the chorus, if you can make out the words!!! All in all, many familiar elements are brought together to form a not quite familiar, but tasty piece of werk."
-wnyu.org